WWII propaganda in the southern United States was a complex interplay of wartime messages and regional racial dynamics. As the United States government disseminated information to bolster the war effort against the Axis Powers, the unique social landscape of the American South led to distinct consequences. The propaganda campaigns not only fueled nationalism but also catalyzed social changes, contributing to racial tensions and laying the groundwork for future civil rights movements.
Race and propaganda
Southern propaganda and the Japanese
After Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II. Crucial to the United States propaganda plan was to ensure that this attack was broadcast by any and all means. Japan was the enemy.Brcak, Nancy and John Pavia. “Racism in Japanese and U.S. Wartime Propaganda.” Historian 56, (1944): p. 671. Much of the propaganda was nationalistic, instilling a sense of patriotism and national pride, however, there was a significant amount of propaganda dedicated to dehumanizing Japanese people. They were painted as savages. They were said to not value life like white men. They sought for death.Thomas Crump, Death of an Emperor: Japan at the Crossroads (New York, 1991; reprint of 1989), 198 The Japanese were shown as almost ape like. This played off previously established racial imagery, originally used to depict the superiority of white people over black people.Joel Berreman, "Assumptions about Americans in Japanese War Propaganda," American Journal of Sociology 52, no. 2 (September 1948): 110 This imagery was especially well-established in the south, where scientific racism had “proven” the superiority and inferiority of various races.Princeton University Library Chronicle, vol. 65, no. 2, p. 317. The Office of War Information took advantage of this system to provoke anti-Japanese sentiment, particularly in the American south.Hart, Justin. “Making Democracy Safe for the World: Race, Propaganda, and the Transformation of U.S. Foreign Policy during World War II.” Pacific Historical Review 73, no. 1 (2004): p. 49. Posters depicted Japanese symbolism, such as the sun seen on the Japanese flag, being overshadowed by American industrialism and military prowess. The men on the posters are seen as muscular and powerful, easily overcoming the Japanese threat. Meanwhile, the Japanese were depicted as degenerate, sexually abusive, and a threat to American women.
This anti-Japanese propaganda led to massive social disruption in the south as thousands of Japanese Americans either enlisted in the United States militaryMurphy, Thomas. Ambassadors in Arms. Honolulu: University of Hawaii press, 1954. or were sent to internment camps.Hokosawa, Bill. Nisei: The Quiet Americans. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2002. This led to a significant migration of Japanese people to the south in the early 1940s. Jim Crow segregation was in full effect, and this introduction of an additional race completely upset the status quo. Japanese Americans did not know how to participate in an area that was segregated into white and black, and generally chose utilities assigned to white people. Yet the threat of the Japanese military and the constant bombardment of anti-Japanese propaganda led to an obvious discrepancy. Because Japanese Americans did not fit into the black/white dichotomy of Jim Crow and were advertised against using imagery that was previously assigned to subjugate black people, the racial hierarchy of the South came under heavy threat.Ward, Jason. “‘No Jap Crow’: Japanese Americans Encounter the World War II South.” Journal of Southern History 73, no. 1 (2007): p. 75.
White supremacy was further disrupted when the American-born children of Japanese immigrants began seeking to join the army in larger numbers. Wartime propaganda promoting the war as an opportunity to fight for racial equality and racial freedom was especially effective for minorities. From the start of WWII, there was a constant flow of propaganda that pushed against Jim Crow laws and showed the war as a way for black people to end segregation. To maintain a sense of white superiority, much of that segregation was pushed onto the Japanese. There were Jim-Crow-esque laws enacted, internment camps made, and a general distaste toward Japanese people.C. Calvin Smith, "The Response of Arkansans to Prisoners of War and Japanese Americans in Arkansas, 1942-1945," Arkansas Historical Quarterly, no. 53 (1994): 340-66. However, in 1943 and well into 1945, the south saw an increase in propaganda that pushed for the American-born children of Japanese immigrants to enter the war so that they, too, could overcome oppression.Greenberg, "Black and Jewish Responses to Japanese Internment," Journal of American Ethnic History, no. 14 (1995), 3-37. Jim-Crow laws were overwhelmingly painted as intolerant, violent and contrarian to American values. One internment camp newspaper wrote “No American of Japanese ancestry wants to give his life for the preservation of Jap Crowism.”"No Jap Crow," Salt Lake City Pacific Citizen, February 19, 1944, p. 6. Propaganda in the south completely and repeatedly reshaped southern views of the Japanese.
Southern propaganda and black people The New Deal was made to help the United States get out of the Great Depression, though many of the policies enabled racial discrimination, and did not help eliminate the effects of the Depression.Fite, Gilbert. Cotton Fields No More: Southern Agriculture, 1865-1980. Langton: The University Press of Kentucky, 1984. The New Deal furthered racial tensions and opened the door for foreign appeals to minorities in the United States. Japanese propaganda, for instance, indicated a war against white people.Clayton, Horace. "Fighting for White Folks?" Nation (1942): p 267-70 They depicted white Americans as lazy, oppressive, and lacking in moral fortitude, an appealing message to southern black people. Soon it was not merely that southern blacks were hesitant to fight but a small portion actively supported the Japanese cause.Dabney, Virginius "Nearer and Nearer the Precipice," Atlantic, no. 171 (1943): p. 99
In response to this newfangled threat, the Office of War Information, and other wartime propagandists changed their emphasis. The war was painted as a way to overcome racism. German fascism was not merely a threat to American democracy; it was a threat to black people specifically. Nazis were not just oppressive to Jews and were not just an empirical force in Europe; they were a force that must be stopped because they furthered the idea that one race is scientifically superior to another.Clark, Kenneth. "Morale of the Negro on the Home Front: World Wars I and II." Journal of Negro Education, no, 12 (1943): p. 426 The Office of War Information began appealing to the idea that white society could be changed through the war, and that racism could be taken on at the same times the Axis Powers were taken on.Black, Gregory and Clayton Koppes. “Blacks, Loyalty, and Motion-Picture Propaganda in World War II.” Journal of American History, no. 73 (1986): p. 383.
To illustrate the potential to fight the Axis Powers and racism, the imagery of the Double V was adopted by black propagandists. It represented victory in the war, and victory over Jim Crow laws, and racial oppression.Randolph, A. Philip. "Why Should We March?" Survey Graphic, no. 31 (1942): p. 488. This rhetoric was not without its critics. It represented a disruption of the status quo. Black propaganda was a means to ensure black rights.George A. Barnes to Ulric Bell, May 17, 1943, box 3509, OWI files The propaganda helped black people feel that they were a valued part of the United States. To help black people fight in the war, propagandists realized they had to feel that they were fighting for their own country.Gardner Cowles, Jr., to Committee on War Information Policy, Aug. 12, 1942, box 15, OWI files To do that, southern blacks had to believe their country could be changed, though much of the effect of the war at home was left unaddressed through to the end of the war, partially because it was far too much to undertake while fighting in World War II.
The Double V propaganda was notably successful, and thousands of black people began joining the army. Southern plantation owners were losing significant portions of their labor force, and issue that needed to be addressed for two reasons. One, to stifle social tensions, and two, a dwindling labor force would result in lower production and economic decline in the south.Baldwin, Sidney. Poverty and Politics: The Rise and Decline of the Farm Security Administration. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1968. Southern plantations were encouraged to shift to a mechanized system, but until that system could be implemented, much of the lost labor force was replaced by prisoners of war.Daniels, Pete. “Going among Strangers: Southern Reactions to World War II.” Journal of American History 77, no. 3 (1990): p. 866. Between Dallas Texas and Louisiana alone, there were over 22,000 prisoners of war working in agriculture during World War II.J. H. Bond to Clinton P. Anderson, Aug. 30, 1945, Prisoners of War, Records of the Secretary of Agriculture;
Becnel, Thomas. Labor, Church, and the Sugar Establishment: Louisiana, 1887-1976. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1980.
Sitterson, J. Carlyle. Sugar County: The Cane Sugar Industry in the South, 1753-1950. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1953.
Allen Ellender to Anderson, April 18, 1946, Employment, Records of the Secretary of Agriculture Propaganda aimed at southern blacks caused a deficit of labor, which led to a mass employment of prisoners of war.
Throughout the war, the constant messages of liberty, freedom, and improvement of racial equality pushed many toward assertive and even violent domestic action. There were riots against discrimination and riots to maintain discrimination. Dozens of lynchings were held in secret. In an attempt to subdue some of the chaos, local and state leaders blamed federal involvement and the New Deal. Propaganda for southern blacks inspired the beginnings of the 1960s civil rights movements against Jim Crow laws, while creating tense racial friction that did not easily subside.
Filmic propaganda The United States Film Industry produced hundreds of movies regarding WWII during the War. Forty-six of them showed actual combat,Parish, James. The Great Combat Pictures. Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1990. the rest of them dealt with the War’s more overarching ideas. Generally, these films were made to promote a certain aspect of the war efforts in order to garner support from the American Public. The Office of War Information regularly funded movies that encouraged people to enlist, to buy war bonds, etc. Roosevelt hired Frank Capra to head a project called “Why We Fight.” The films were not meant to be propagandist to the American public, as much as they were made as propagandizing documentaries to instruct and orient American soldiers during the war. A select few movies were produced before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but that event triggered the production of a nearly unending stream of propagandist movies, as US involvement in the War became a nearly universally accepted course of action.Morlan, Don. “Slapstick Contributions to WWII Propaganda: The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello.” Studies in Popular Culture 17, no. 1 (1994): p. 29 Film after film was produced, supporting the war efforts. These films continued to entertain, but they also were a moral center and a source of inspiration for the American public.